Rest easy, Iowans. The caucuses will be the first presidential nominating contest of the 2012 campaign.

New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner has set that state’s first-in-the-nation primary for Jan. 10.

That’s a week after Iowa’s Jan. 3 caucuses.

Iowa and New Hampshire traditionally are the lead-off states in the months-long presidential nominating gauntlet, but their positions have been threatened in recent election cycles by other states looking to tap into the attention and influence that comes with being first.This year, the states fended off moves by Florida and Nevada to bully to the front of the pack.

The New Hampshire decision follows Nevada’s announcement last month that it would hold its caucuses on Feb. 4. They had been scheduled for Jan. 14, a date that upset the ideal timing of the Iowa-New Hampshire contests.